All posts tagged iphone

Apple was downgraded to a neutral rating by Citigroup late Sunday, citing research that shows “near-term supply-chain order cuts” that bring into question the strength of iPhone 5. MarketWatch’s Dan Gallagher reports on Markets Hub.

Apple shares today are sitting just over the $500 mark, having traded as low as $501.23; they’re currently up about 0.6% at $512 and it seems there’s some support at this level, even as the entire market is moving higher.

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

Jabil Circuit, Cirrus Logic and Qualcomm, which supply components to Apple products, are down after Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said some of Apple’s suppliers have recently received order cuts.

“Our checks indicate the builds at the assemblers (Hon Hai, Pegatron, Jabil) have remained constant,” Misek said in a research note to clients. “But in the last 24-48 hours, component suppliers have seen large order cuts as the assembly bottleneck has not improved as much as hoped.

“We had thought Apple would be further along the assembly ramp at this point and believe Apple will see extra charges due to the excess component inventory,” he added, while trimming is fourth quarter gross margin estimate to 39%, from 40%.

Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, is maintaining his $1,111 price target on Apple despite the fact that the stock trades in bear-market territory – considered a decline of at least 20% from peak to trough.

Apple’s stock price would have to more than double from current levels to reach White’s estimate.

In a note to clients this morning, White attempts to calm investor worries about what’s next for the world’s biggest company by market value.

“Similar to other corrections in Apple’s stock, the fears in the back of investors minds come to the forefront and the bear stories gain credence,” White says. “We have heard it before, we’re hearing it now and we expect to hear it again in the future.

“However, these concerns have proven dead wrong over the years and based on the product lineup at Apple, we believe they will be dead wrong in the foreseeable future.”

The stock is off more than 2% on heavier-than-usual trading volume, continuing the slide that began after the technology giant released disappointing iPhone 5 sales figures.

At least one chart watcher is now saying investors should expect the stock’s downdraft to continue a bit longer before the shares bounce back.

“This breakdown is certainly not constructive in the short run,” Mark Newton, chief technical analyst at Greywolf Equity Partners, said in an email. ”While the near-term pattern has gotten worse, the longer-term trend is still very much intact.”

Some have already surmised that the new iPhone could move the needle on GDP. Could Apple’s influence extend to the September sales data some retailers will report later this week?

Maybe, J.P. Morgan says. But it might not be quite as rosy for the retailers.

“Following a late surge of back-to-school shopping in late August and early September, consumers likely” turned attention from apparel shopping to iPhone 5, the firm wrote.

The idea is, after waiting in line for five days to buy a new iPhone, shoppers may not be so hopped up to go and blow another wad on that snazzy shirt in the window at Macy’s.

J.P. Morgan, in fact, was the source of that iPhone-can-boost-GDP meme, so it’s not surprising to see them expanding upon the theme. But they’re mainly taking this one the other way.

The firm also notes that in general, the mid-September-to-Thanksgiving period “can be tricky for retailers” amid weather changes and other factors. Meanwhile, apparel inventories are “positioned much more defensively” than last year’s elevated levels, firm wrote.

But that might change as the investment bank notes that this week is projected to be the warmest start to October in the US in seven years. That is liable to keep colder-weather clothing from moving.

Everything is rising today, so naturally the retailers are doing pretty well also. J.C. Penney, Macy’s, and Kohl’s are all up about 2% or more. Abercrombie & Fitch and Family Dollar (and that’s one of the few times those two names will be mentioned in the same breath) are down.

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

We told you earlier that the Apple bulls are, well, getting more bullish. Wedbush’s Scott Sutherland is among that group, with an $885 price target. But while that’s a 12-month target, Sutherland thinks it’ll probably get there before March.

A strong upgrade cycle will drive iPhone sales to records this quarter and the next, driving Apple shares up to nearly $900, Wedbush Securities’ Scott Sutherland said this morning on the Markets Hub.

“There is still a lot of growth that they can have out there,” he said.

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

Apple fanboys have come out in droves trying to get their hands on the fancy iPhone 5. Wall Street strategists are equally as excited.

Deutsche Bank slapped an $850 price target on Apple this morning, up from $775, due to strong demand for the new iPhone. The firm raised its iPhone sales estimates for this year and 2013, while also boosting its 2013 earnings estimates.

FedEx’s earnings report this morning wasn’t a surprise, but it was a warning. Ahead of the Tape columnist Spencer Jakab stopped by the Markets Hub this morning to discuss what FedEx’s earnings, the modest boost the company’s seeing from a new iPhone, and what it all means in the grand scheme of things.

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

Shares recently edged up 0.1% at $700.71 and have been flitting around $700 for much of the day, earlier hitting an intraday high of $701.44. The stock, which hit $600 in March, is up 5% this month and 73% on a year-to-date basis.

There are currently five stocks trading above $700: Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares ($132,770), Seaboard Corp. ($2,259), NVR Inc. ($856) and Google Inc. ($715), according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Google just recently re-joined the club; It originally entered in 2007 and hit a high of $741.79 in November 2007, then fell as low as $262.43 one year later during the depths of the financial crisis before rebounding. It jumped back above $700 earlier this month.

Additionally, LICT Corp.,a Delaware holding company that trades on the pink sheets, is in the club at $2,275.

Apple reported two million iPhone 5 sales in the first 24 hours, but Sanford Bernstein cautions that the device may not drive much fundamental growth for telecoms.

Firm notes that iPhones are usually sold to customers that already have phones, often smartphones.

So without major subscriber growth or converting customers to lucrative data plans, the advantage comes from “incremental” increases in average revenue per user from increased data usage, and potentially lowering churn.

Apple shares are up today, gaining about 1% at $698.17. The stock rose as high as $699.54; the $700 level itself seems to be offering some measure of psychological resistance. If we know Apple at all, that probably won’t last long.

AT&T, which reported over the weekend that the iPhone 5 is the fastest selling phone it’s ever offered, is up 0.5%. Sprint is down slightly, as is Verizon (Verizon Wireless doesn’t trade on its own).

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

Thinner, lighter and faster—Apple’s new iPhone 5 was released to world-wide buzz Wednesday, but Asian technology companies that build the smartphone and supply its components received more muted reaction in Thursday morning trading.

Shares recently rose 0.4% to $663.21. The stock was at $661.18 when the event began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time and briefly turned negative before bouncing back.

Trading volume is up, with more than 15 million shares having already exchanged hands. That surpasses Apple’s full-day average of 13.3 million shares that typically trade on a given day, according to FactSet.

Cook kicked off the event by noting Apple has sold 84 million iPads through June. The device also accounts for 91% of Web traffic generated by table devices, according to Apple.

About MarketBeat

MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. MarketBeat is updated frequently throughout the day, helping investors stay on top of what’s happening in the markets. Lead writers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo spearhead the MarketBeat team, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to paul.vigna@wsj.com or steven.russolillo@wsj.com.

Global investment banks got a second-quarter revenue boost from a surge in Asian stock trading. But given China’s market volatility and stock declines in some other countries, those revenue gains may be hard to replicate.